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"Trap Is Being Set" for Bin Laden: British PM
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Saturday that the anti-terrorism coalition had set up plans for a military strike against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime.
"Things are coming into place, although obviously the timing on any such action is a matter we must discuss with our close allies, " Blair told reporters as he returned to Britain after a tour to Russia, India and Pakistan to get support from allies on the Afghan borders.
Speaking to reporters aboard his aircraft, the British prime Minster said preparations were falling into place against hard- line Taliban clerics harboring Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born Islamic militant who is chief suspect in the September 11 attacks on the United States.
"The trap is being set around the Taliban regime in the sense that we are cutting off their sources of financing and supply and we have built a very strong diplomatic and political coalition in the area," Blair said.
"We have the capacity to act and there is a clearer understanding of...why it is essential we act in order to prevent further acts of terrorism," he said.
Blair said Afghanistan's leadership had several weeks to respond to U.S. demands to hand over bin Laden and knew "perfectly well what they had to do."
He said discussions in the region had made it clear the links between bin Laden and the Taliban were enormous.
"They are interconnected, totally interlinked with each other," said the British prime minister.
Blair had arrived his Downing Street office at late Saturday afternoon.
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